UK households feel the pinch as real earnings almost stagnate

Helping out: A customer service representative stands in an aisle at a Tesco Extra supermarket in Watford, north of London. Tesco Plc, the UK supermarket leader, said it would absorb some of the sterling-induced cost bump and keep prices low, which could ramp up pressure on competitors to do the same. — Reuters

LONDON: UK living standards are under more pressure than at any time in 2½ years and the squeeze is getting tighter.

Adjusted for inflation, regular pay rose just 0.1% in the three months through February, the weakest since the third quarter of 2014.